Things you pay people to do for you...

[Ms. Chevious]

So what do you find easier to pay someone to do for you (for whatever reason)? I guess I'm lucky that I have time to clean my own abode and paint my own toes (though I'll gladly splurge on that when the urge hits) but some things I'm always happy to pay others to do include:

-Car washing (I don't have a hose, driveway, bikini, etc. so I've no way to even attempt this at home)
-Dyeing my hair
-Bikini waxing (much discussed on other threads :o )
-Oil changing or pretty much anything related to the car
-Cooking ethnic foods (my cooking skills do not extend beyond the Italian ethnicity so if you want ethnic, we're going out)
-My taxes

[LA98]

Interesting timing: DH and I were just talking about an article in this week's People magazine about people hiring "pros" to do basic parenting tasks like potty training, teaching your child to ride a bike, etc. I was really appalled; I mean, hiring a math tutor for your child is perfectly fine, but hiring someone to come in and teach your kid table manners? Ugh.

That said, my list looks pretty much like yours, except I subbed eyebrow waxing for bikini. :D

[jtoepfert100]

Pretty much only the basic personal care:

Cut my hair
nails/toenails (used to be a lot more frequently, now only occasionally but if someone else doesn't do it, they don't get done)
eyebrows

But, believe me, if I had more money, there would be A LOT more I would gladly pay someone else to do. I am not a do-it-youselfer by any means. I take after my Dad - he always said "Why do it yourself when you can pay someone else to do it?":D Course, my Mom is the exact opposite. She is just now for the first time paying someone to cut her hair and I think it pains her.:rolleyes:

[Jessica]

--Taxes (ours are complex because I am self-employed and my DH often has to file in multiple states)

--Hair color

--Oil Change

--Sushi

--Pedicure (sometimes)

--Home repair and upgrades except for basics like indoor painting.

And, things I DON'T pay for...

--I clean my own house, but someday...

--Bakery stuff. I sometimes even make my own hamburger buns.

--Indian food. I like the stuff I make.

[DeeK]

I gladly paid someone to teach my son to drive. I started teaching him, but one of us was going to end up in the looney bin.

So, I happily shelled out the $$$ and he very quickly learned to drive.

One car - $14,000
One set of driving lessons - $500.00
Sanity for Mom - Priceless!

[AD]

I gladly paid someone to teach my son to drive. I started teaching him, but one of us was going to end up in the looney bin.

So, I happily shelled out the $$$ and he very quickly learned to drive.

One car - $14,000
One set of driving lessons - $500.00
Sanity for Mom - Priceless!

You and your son are lucky. I'm 23, and I have had driving lessons twice, and I still haven't been able to learn to drive. It seems impossible to me. When my mother can't drive me places, I end up having to pay a taxi or someone to drive me.

So someday, I'll probably hire a chauffeur.

My mother and I also pay for all mowing and lawn maintenance and virtually anything else that requires a trip outdoors.

[wallycat]

When I was single, I paid for oil changes and other car junk, now DH does as much as he knows.

When I was single and owned/sold a house, I paid for taxes, otherwise I did them myself and now DH does ours (thanks to tax software :) ).

Haircuts

We had a housekeeper when I first married DH but when she retired, we just never got anyone else so now DH and I share the burden :D

Doc/vet visits :p (unless I can buy worm meds over-counter!)

[sneezles]

Things I pay for:

-haircuts when I can remember or be inclined to make an appt
-major car problems...like the service engine light that is still on and the chevy dealer couldn't find a rpoblem
-dr visits though our pc doesn't always charge for a visit and gives me tons of samples for my one prescription
-boys haircuts...until very recently they were happy my poor interpretation
-occassionally Tex-Mex and Chinese. Tex-Mex when I have to have the margarita, too. The Chinese is more than 30 miles so it's more of a "I don't feel like cooking, let's go eat Chinese." I do make it at home though the menu is much more limited :rolleyes: .
-taxes...too complicated with self-employment, the bar, rental property, no actual income...

That's about it, we pretty much handle the rest. I am looking forward to getting my first pedicure after my varicose vein surgery later this month!

[Lrimerman]

Oh, this is a timely topic. A lot of my friends think it is crazy that we pay people to do stuff. However, we would rather spend our time doing other things and DH travels a lot, so when he is home on weekends, etc. we have other priorities.

We pay for:

Hair cuts

Cleaning house (every other week)

Lawn mowing (it takes DH at least an hour or usually more to mow, edge, clean up, etc. and then he isn't real handy with trying to maintain the lawnmower, so now it needs work) our lawn guy only charges $25 and he does a great job.

taxes

most home repairs (although DH does some and does paint)

CSA-- we pay someone else to grow our veges (we have to help)

car repairs and maintenance-neither of us know how to do that stuff

Vet and other Doctors--need more education than I care to get to do it myself, and still wouldn't be a good idea to do it myself

On the plus side,

I have a legal degree and so that comes in handy for many things,
DH is a computer professional, so he networked our house and can fix, maintain, etc our computers
We make almost all our own food including bread, buns, sauces, etc.

Lisa

[clairea]

I pay someone to clean my house once every 2 weeks.

I am perfectly willing to pay for manicures and pedicures, and do so whenever there is enough fluff in the budget.

Dr, dentist, vet, mechanic -- it would never even occur to me not to have to pay someone else to do this.

I don't cook asian food (chinese, thai, vietnamese, etc.). It is never as good as the restaurant.

If I could, I would absolutely pay for a driver for DH. He doesn't drive right now due to a medical problem, and I would love not to have to take him back and forth to work, dr appointments, and everything else every day! Public transportation isn't a very good option for us as we live about 6 miles from his office downtown, and he would have to take a bus 5 miles in the opposite direction, then a train 4 miles past his office and another train the 4 miles back to the station near his office :confused: Is it any wonder we are having such traffic and smog problems in Atlanta?

We do pretty much everything else. I do our taxes, and DH does almost all the maintenance and repairs on the house.

[mbrogier]

My husband insisted on changing the spark plugs in his car once. He had a Mazda 626 and it requires special spark plugs, evidently. He did not figure that out until two years later when those spark plugs ruined the engine. :mad: (definitely worth not paying a mechanic under $60 to change and gap spark plugs! :eek: ) I did NOT let him near my car. :D I knew car stuff should be left to the experts.

Things we do ourselves:
taxes
computer stuff
lawn care
house cleaning

Things I pay others to do:
hair cuts for both of us
car wash

Things I want to pay others to do:
husband's pants
manicures and pedicure
house cleaning

[luv2ski77]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]When DH and I both worked full-time, we always paid someone to clean. I didn't consider it a luxury, just another necessity. I was a surgical RN working with an extremely busy cardiothoracic surgeon so, basically, when he worked, I worked--day, night, weekends, holidays, on call, etc. I wouldn't have even thought about cleaning anything other than me-- :p . Now, on the flip side with two children and just working enough to keep my nursing license active which is 2 days a week, I really can't justify that expense so I do it myself. Never mind the fact that when we moved to the south, I fired 7, yes 7, cleaning ladies in rapid succession! Maybe I expect too much-- :eek: --or maybe they were just lazy! However, I think if you work, you deserve to have someone clean for you!

Debbie :cool:

[newtricks]

I hate these kinds of threads. I'm such a loser!! I'm not even going to write down what I pay others to do for me. Just envision a long list.

I did potty train all three kids though. :cool:

off topic - debbie, I love your sig line! We saw the movie last week and I say that to my kids all the time now.

[MISSINDI]

We pay for the basics: haircuts, car wash, oil change, etc.

Others:
-- We have a cleaning lady/housekeeper come weekly and it is worth every penny. She does laundry, cleans out the refrigerator, changes sheets, etc.

-- water delivery. We used to buy the cooler bottles at Costco and lug them home, but our house is 30 steps up from the street/car and carrying them up isn't fun, so it's worth a few extra bucks for someone to bring it regularly to our front door.

-- milk delivery. With a 3-year-old, we go through a lot of milk. For pennies, more, we get a weekly dairy delivery.

-- food delivery. A local warehouse (think Costco but LOTS smaller) delivers free to homes with $25 order, especially worth it with aforemented steps!

-- bigger lawn jobs. DH does the lawn cutting, but major jobs, we have someone else do.

-- dog grooming. We have two Bernese Mountain Dogs and with all their hair and their weight, it's just easier to have someone do it professionally. We used to do our Lab ourselves.

All I can think of for now, but I'm sure there's more. With us, it's simply a matter of convenience, especially having a young child. If it makes sense to pay someone else to do something, it means more time we can spend with Nicholas ... and that's a good thing. :D

[LA98]

Missindi, I sent you a PM. :)

[luv2run]

off topic - debbie, I love your sig line! We saw the movie last week and I say that to my kids all the time now.
Thanks-- :p ! I say it to my kids all the time, too! They hate it-- :D !

Debbie :cool:

[mbrogier]

Thanks-- :p ! I say it to my kids all the time, too! They hate it-- :D !

Debbie :cool:

I say that to my husband all the time---although I'm wondering if it is really my hearing. We still laugh...

My in-laws are coming at the end of this week. I have been in and out of the hospital with the complications from my gallbladder surgery (yeah, the one before Christmas :( ) I don't have the energy to deep clean, and my husband is just too busy and worn out. I have a coupon for $30 off Merry Maids, so I'm going to have them come in a clean for me. :D I did tell Rob that if I like them, they're going to continue to come on a bi-weekly basis. I don't work, but this medical stuff is like a full time job!